Dear Friends and Family,
Many of Frank’s close friends proposed that we raise funds to establish a fellowship in his name. Frank was a dedicated teacher and outstanding mentor, and this fellowship would help to honor Frank's countless contributions to science and mentoring.
Growing up in the then traditional educational environment in Taiwan, Frank’s independent thinking and getting-to-the-bottom spirit was not encouraged. His grades were just average. Upon his acceptance to the Chemistry Ph.D. Program at UC Santa Barbara, with limited financial support and no guaranteed research position, Frank felt unsure about his future in chemistry.
It was only once he joined Professor Galen Stucky’s research group to complete his Ph.D. and later joined both Professor Peidong Yang’s and Prof. Gabor Somorjai's research groups at UC Berkeley as a postdoc, that Frank
started to flourish and believe in himself and his exceptional abilities as a chemist. If you had interacted with Frank in academia, you will have experienced his passion for research, and most importantly, his generosity in sharing his knowledge with others. Because of his own experiences early in his career, Frank could empathize with and guide those who were also facing challenges in their path as scientists.
Even though Frank is no longer with us, we would like to set up a fellowship in his name to pay homage to his generous spirit, and support those who struggle in their early path to become scientists. The details of the fellowship are still being finalized. The goal is to establish an endowed fellowship at an institution in the United States and, every year, sponsor Chemistry Ph.D. students with financial need. This would help to alleviate their financial stresses and instead allow them to focus unburdened on pursuing their love of chemistry. Providing students the opportunity to nurture their love of chemistry would honor Frank's legacy as a scientist, a teacher, and a mentor.
This fundraising initiative is supervised by the following committee members:
Boston College
親愛的家人和朋友,
在這段時間，好幾位朋友提議用哥哥的名義募資設立一個獎學金。這個提議讓我回憶起哥哥求學的歷程。
在台灣唸書期間，他獨立思考和追根究底的精神並不被當年傳統的教育環境所鼓勵，所以當時考試成績並不是最突出。他先是到了台灣中山的學完成學士，後來到UCSB，一開始他沒有獎學金也沒有找到研究組，經濟的壓力曾使他對未來感到困惑猶豫。
一直到加入了Professor Galen Stucky的組讀博士，到之後進入Professor Peidong Yang 和 Prof. Gabor Somorjai 兩個组做博士後，他真正地發揮他的潛能，在化學科研上找到了自己。有機會在學術上接觸過哥哥的人，都感受得到他對科研的熱情，更重要的是他對後輩和學生豪無保留的分享。正因早年唸書時經歷過徬徨，他更能體會並引導在科研路上經歷不同狀況的後進者。
雖然哥哥已經不在這個人世，但希望能藉由用他的名字設立一個獎學金延續他的精神，去幫助更多像他一樣對科學有熱忱、大器晚成的年輕學子們。獎學金的細節正在進行規劃中，募款的目標是在美國設立一個永久獎學金，每年資助經濟上有需求、正在念化學的博士生，讓他們在追求科學的路上，不會因為經濟壓力而放棄。
此募款會由以下委員監督執行:
王建方教授 / 香港中文大学物理系
謝發坤教授 / 國立中央大學化學系
林歆怡副教授 / 新加坡南洋理工大學化學系
黃文裕副教授 / 愛荷華州立大學化學系
Eranthie Weerapana 副教授 / 波士頓學院 化學系
宗家瑋 謹代表我們全家由衷 感謝大家對哥哥的情義
